Holder for dental bite-takers.



No. 757,133. PATENTED APR. 12, 1904.

E. B. MARSHALL. 1

HOLDER FOR DENTAL BITE TAKERS.

1221510111011 rmzn JAN. 19, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

W wmflm u, iigesszs M In I r aw eAlfomcys UNITED STATES Patented April 1Q, 1904;

EDMUND BANNING MARSHALL, OF ROME, GEORGIA.

HOLDER FOR DENTAL BlTE-TAKERS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,133, dated April 12, 1904. Application filed January 19, 1904. Serial No. 189,699. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND BANNING MAR- SHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rome, in the county of Floyd and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Holder for Dental Bite-Takers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to holders or clamps for holding the trial-plates used by dentists to secure impressions of the teeth and gums of patients to serve as guides in the making and setting of artifical teeth.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of the character specified which will hold the trial-plate firmly in position, so as to enable the operator to secure a perfectly clear and distinct impression of the teeth and gum structure of the patients mouth with the impressions of the upper and lower jaws so related as to show the relative positions normally occupied by the jaws.

To this end the invention consists in an improved form of trial-plate holder and clamping device by means of which the trial-plate may be quickly and securely clamped to the lower jaw of the patient and held positively in a fixed position, so that when the jaws are brought together to impress the teeth and gum structure thereof upon the trial-plate there will be no slipping of the trial-plate with consequent distortion of the impressions thereon.

In the preparation of plates for teeth and other dental Work requiring impressions of the patients mouth to be taken it is usual to obtain such impression upon a prepared block or bite-taker of wax or similar material, so as to get the impression of both jaws on the block. These impressions, however, do not always represent accurately the normal position of the jaws, and the plates made therefrom are apt to be more or less ill fitting, and consequently a source of discomfort to the wearer. This is due in the main to the well-known tendency in biting to bring the teeth together upon the bite-taker with a slight lateral movement in addition to the movement of approximation of the jaws. The lateral movement of the jaws is apt to distort the impressions and to shift the position of the bite-taker in the patients mouth-if not firmly secured therein.

In overcoming the difliculties above outlined and securing clear and distinct impressions of the teeth and gum structure of patients exhibited may, be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing its advantages.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the trial-plate holder and clamp with the trial-plate indicated in dotted lines upon the supporting member. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the trial-plate holder and clamp applied, the lower jaw of the patient being diagrammatically indicated in proper relative position to the trial holder and clamp and the trial-plate itself being shown in solid lines over the patients lower teeth.

Referring to the drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by similar characters of reference throughout the several views, 1 designates a frame of wire bent to present a pair of slightly-curved branches 2 2, each composed of two substantially parallel portions connected at their outer ends, as

. shown, and conforming to the curve of the lower jaw of a human being, it being understood that the frame will be furnished in different sizes, if necessary, to conform to the oral cavities of different sizes. The frame 1 is preferably composed of a single wire, and the ends thereof are firmly secured in a shank 3, of metal or other material, having a hook at extending downward therefrom at the end adjacent to the frame 1. The frame 1 is embedded in the trial-plate which supports the impression wax, which serves as the bitetaker, and may be of any ordinary or preferred construction, as that indicated diagrammatically in dotted lines at 5.

To cooperate with the frame 1 and its shank, I provide a larger frame 6, which is also constructed, preferably, of a single wire and presents two branches 7, which correspond generally to the curve of the lower-jaw bone, so that when the apparatus is placed in position, as shown in Fig. 2, the frame 6 will press against the flesh covering the lower-jaw bone and the rami of the jaw will overlie the spaces between the outer and inner portions of the two branches of the frame, The ends of the wire constituting the frame 6 are extended upward from the plane of the two branches 7 and thence carried forward to be firmly secured in a shank 8, which is adapted for engagement with the hook 4:, carried by the shank 3, and which has threaded in its outer end a screw 9, whose head 10 is disposed downward and whose point engages a socket formed in the under surface of the shank 3.

In using the trial-plate holder and clamp as above described the trial-plate is coated upon its upper and lower surfaces with a layer of beeswax or other suitable material to serve as a bite-taker and is then introduced into the mouth of the patient in the usual way. The frame 6, with the screw in the shank thereof retracted, is then brought into position beneath the patients lower jaw, with the shank of the frame engaging the hook 4: on the shank of the plate-holding frame. The screw 9 is then turned in the opening provided therefor in the shank of the frame 6 until the end of the screw engaging the socket in the under surface of the shank of the frame 1 separates the shanks of the two frames and so forces the frames 1 and 6 into clamping i engagement with the patients lower jaw.

The trial-plate having been thus firmly secured in position within the patients mouth, the bite will be taken when the patient closes his mouth, and the impressions of both upper and lower teeth will be clear and well defined,

as: all tendency of the bite-taker to slip in the mouth'of the patient during the operation of taking the bite will be positively prevented bymeans of the plate-holder and clamp.

' prising a trial-plate-supporting frame adapted to enter a patients mouth, a'clamping-frame movably connected with the plate-holding frame and adapted to extend under the patients chin, and means for positively forcing said frames into clamping engagement with the patients lower jaw.

2. A device of the character specified comprising a trial-plate-holding frame of wire bent to conform to the curve of the patients lower jaw, a clamping-frameof wire mov'ably' connected with the plate-holding frame and adapted to extend under the patients lower jaw, and means for forcing said frames into clamping engagement with the patients lower aw.

3. A device of the character specified com-' prising a trial-plate-holding frame present ing two diverging arms each consisting of substantially parallel portions of wire spaced apart to present an opening somewhat wider than the row of teeth in a patients lower jaw, and means for positively clamping said frame upon the lower jaw of a patient.

4. In a device of the character specified, a trial-plate-supporting frame having a forwardly-projecting shank, a frame extending beneath the patients chin and also having a forwardly-projecting shank, means for connecting said frames for relative pivotal movement, and means disposed between the shanks for forcing the shanks apart and thereby causing the frames to clamp the patients lower aw.

5. In a device of the character specified, a trial-plate-supporting member having a downwardly-disposed hook thereon, and a member extending. beneath the chin and removably engaging said hook, and means between said members for forcing them into clamping en; gagement with a patients lower jaw.

6. In a device of the character specified, a trial-plate-supporting member having a forwardly-projecting shank, a downwardly-disposed hook at the rear end of said shank, a clamping member removably engaging said shank and extending beneath the plate-holding member, said clamping member having a forwardly projecting shank, and a screw threaded in the shank of the clamping member and engaging the under surface of the shank of the plate-supporting member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDMUND BANNING MARSHALL.

Witnesses:

I/VILL O. WRIGHT, HUGH MOCRARY. 

